To learn to pronounce the language correctly, ask a native speaker to read aloud some of the examples given in this section. Then try to imitate his or her pronunciation as accurately as you can. Be aware, however, that there are many dialectical variations in Indonesian, some producing very strong accents. Stress also varies from region to region. In Sumatra (and incidentally among of Malay of Malaysia) stress is generally placed on the penultimate syllable, whereas the Javanese and many other Indonesians stress the final syllable of a word

Unlike English, the spelling of Indonesian is consistently phonetic. Many people say the pronunciation is similar to Spanish or Italian

Consonants
Most are pronounced roughly as in English. The main exceptions are as follows :
c is pronounced "ch" (formerly "c" spelled "tj")
cari : to look for, seek
cinta : to love
g is always hard, as in "girl"
guna : to use
gila : crazy
h is very soft, and often not pronounced
habis ---> abis : finished
hidup ---> idup : to live
sudah ---> suda : already
mudah ---> muda : easy
lihat ---> liat : to see
tahu ---> tau : to know
kh is found in words of Arabic derivation, and sounds like a hard "k"
khusus : special
ng is always soft, as in "hanger"
dengar : to hear
hilang : lost
ngg is always hard, as in "hunger"
ganggu : to bother
mangga : mango
r is trilled or rolled, as in Spanish
ratus : hundred
baru : new

Vowels
As in English, there are five written vowels (a,e,i,o,u) and two diphthongs (ai,au) :
a is very soft, like the a in "father"
satu : one
bayar : to pay
e is usually unaccented, like the u in "but"
empat : four
beli : to buy
When stressed, or at the end of a word, however, e sounds like the "e" in "passe" :
desa : village
cabe : chili pepper
i is long like the "ea" in "bean"
tiga : three
lima : five
o is long, as in "so"
bodoh : stupid
boleh : may
u is long like the "u" in "humor" (formerly "u" spelled "oe")
tujuh : seven
untuk : for
au is like the "ow" in "how"
atau : or
pulau : island
ai is pronounced like the word "eye"
pantai : beach
sampai : to reach
Under the influence of Javanese, final ai is often pronounced like "e" in "passe" :
sampai ---> sampe : to reach, finish
Similarly, final au often becomes "o" :
hijau ---> hijo : green